Month: December 2004

Hartz is at it again, I’m sitting here with Simone on my lap twitching and having seizures, she can’t even walk. I have bathed her and no luck, still the same. No vet is open and I’m ready to cry.I think I may have killed her. Believe me I will not let Hartz get away with this.

On October 11, I put Hartz 2 in 1 on my three cat’s backs and within one half hour, one of my kittens ears were twitching. I didn’t think anything of it at the time because I thought she just didn’t like the meds on her back. I took my daughter out and four hours later, I came back. I looked at my cat and she was having grand mal seizures on my couch. I called the emergency vets and they told me to bring her in as soon as possible. I had also put the meds on my other three kittens so we loaded them in the car. One of my kittens had to stay overnight, but the other three could come home. The vet said that they have people in their office every day because of this product. I was one of the lucky ones. My kittens are all doing fine…after spending $400 at the vets, but I wrote a letter to the Hartz Corporation and they did eventually send me a refund for the vets bill along with an apology. They still didn’t admit that the product is hazardous to cats, but we all know that it is. Since then I’ve managed to get at least one Wal-Mart to take it off their shelves. The manager did it right in front of me which made me feel like someone actually believed me. I called Stop and Shop’s headquarters, but they didn’t listen to me…basically blown off….but I’m going to keep trying becuase we all know that this stuff is garbage. Also, I contacted every vets office in my immediate area…15…and they all said that they have heard about this product and they also all agree that it should be taken off the market immediately…What else can I do to help????

I bathed my 3 year old cat Logan in Hartz flea and tick conditioning shampoo… within the hour he started acting very strange. He was becoming very lethargic, he seemed off balance, he was vomiting, and not eating or drinking. I called my friend who is a vet. He told me to keep him calm and still, and to wash him in Ivory dish sop to get any remainder of the chemicals in the shampoo off of him. I did this and monitored him over night. The next day he seemed a little more alert, but was still not moving much. He appeared to be a little better. However later that afternoon he began having troube breathing, and started having convulsions. I picked him up as quickly as I could and headed for the Vet’s office. We sadly never made it there. Logan died laying on my lap in the car. This was a family pet. my 7 year old son, and 5 year old daughter had to watch the animal they loved die in front of them because of this terrible product.

Hi, I am what you would call a ‘Cat Lady’ I guess. I have 5 beautiful healthy cats, aside from my Hartz incident I have had only one ‘problem’ with my cats and that was an allergic reaction to a bug bite, I include this to show that they are indeed very healthy.
I bought a Hartz Flea & Tick collar, I was short on cash so was waiting until the next day to buy the other 4 collars. I had treated my apartment for fleas and felt it was safe for the girls to re enter the environment and thought a flea collar would be good for the first week to make sure no re infestation occured.
I chose the cat by simply deciding, Whoever I catch first, gets the glowing pink collar, the rest are safe for the night. I never realized how true that thought was.
My poor baby Gracie, she’s my white Siamese with perfect points and perfect attitude, slept on top of door by 3 or 4 months old, yup, perfect Siamese attitude.
I take medications so usually once I am asleep I am like the dead, its near impossible to wake me unless you physically move me. God was watching this night.
Around 2am I think, I woke up because the girls playing didn’t sound right. I felt panicky because like I said,nothing wakes me up. I got up to check and when I turned on the hall light, they were all together making a racket around the baby Gracie, who was ‘flopping’ due to the collar going down her throat like a horse bit and choking her. I kept my cool, scooped her and ran to the bathroom where I realized it was more unsafe to try to cut it off, it was simply too tight, I would add, this was the ‘safer’ stretchy-like material collar, well, stretchy my butt, uncooked spaghetti has more stretch to it. The baby Gracie seemed to understand that I was helping her as she relaxed, I could feel her muscles letting go. I had to un-do the clasp closure area, adding at least another minute to the hell she was experiencing.
I got it off, she had broken off several nail digging at her mouth and the blasted collar trying to free herself so those were bleeding, her lips, mouth, the whole area was all dug up by her nails and her trying to get free. She was frothing at the mouth and nose, I don’t know if the blood was part of the froth or due to the scratches she self inflicted. I was sure she would die. I spent the next, eternity it felt like, sort of draping her over the edge of the sink, singing to her and talking to her while pouring cool water over her mouth and using my fingers to wipe and clean her nose. I wanted to try to get all the toxens out. Around 4 am, when the girls are normally at the height of their playing, not one of the others was playing and I took Gracie to bed and didn’t sleep while she did, I was sure she was not going to wake up.
It took several days and at least one call to my local vet, who, bless her heart, didnt charge me, for Gracie to seem a little more like herself.
I accept responsibility for using the damn flea collar, I knew better but thought, its a stretch kind and for a very short term. It was the toxins, I think Gracie would have simply had a few scratches to her mouth etc and a really bad hatred for me if it was simply a collar without the poison. As it was, I nearly lost her. I sent off letters to every Animal rights org. that I belonged to and a few I didn’t.
I probably would have had more luck phoning the Queen of England than I did finding an address for Hartz! I finally found a website that admitted to being connected to Hartz and I shot off an email, attaching a copy of the letters I had sent to the various orgs. that make it easy to contact themselves.
Too date, more than 2 years, closer to 3, I have had no response from Hartz. Not even a form letter. I asked for nothing from them except an acknowledgement that while following the instructions for use to the letter, serious problems can arise. I wanted them to simply be responnsible and warn their customers that no matter how vigilant you are, it could still be fatal.
Gracie is full grown and a big ol’ pain in the butt so she suffered no lasting affects from it, and I am proud to say, she can jump from sitting position on the floor to the should of a 6 foot+ tall man. Now thats a healthy siamese. And a scary one too, for company at least!
I was told by someone, and I am sorry I can’t think of who, that Hartz sells products for pets under more than one name, same product, different packaging. If there is any truth to that, I wanted to share it.
Thanks for letting me get this off my chest, its still scary when I think of it.

about 2 years ago, unknown of the hartz product hurting cats, i bought some because i had fleas. i had 3 cats. i applied it on all 3 of them, on the box it said apply a thin line from base of skull to the base of the tail, that did not sound right to me knowing they could lick it, so i only applied it to the base of their skulls. several hours later, punky (she was almost one at the time) started acting strange, just laying around i thought she was just tired or something… but then she would not get up, eat or take interest in anything i was doing. i had no idea what harm could have happened. i still didnt think much, just thought she had an upset belly or something, but then i got her up and she couldnt even stand, was all wobbly and incoherent and could not even meow more of a squeak. so i freaked it was very late at night and i knew i couldnt get in a vet, i did not have a car at this time and there was nothing i could do. so i called my mom, she said that she could be having a reaction to the hartz flea spot and to wash her with a mild soap, nothing with flea control just soap. so i did and she started looking a bit better a couple hours later. the next day i got her to eat canned food and she started walking a bit more and by the time i called around trying to get her in somewhere she was looking much better. i cant believe what this stuff can do, its horrible. i know my story is minor compared to the results of alot of you, and i do feel all of your pain. my pets are my kids, and if anything happened to them i would be a mess, like losing a human child. i warn everyone with pets not to use any hartz products and pray that no one encounters any harm to their pets. my thoughts and prayers are with you all. i only use advantage now with no side effects at all. i like the rest of you wish i would have found all this info out a long time ago and never thought i was putting them in danger i was only trying to help them.

Cat Fancy Magazine(formerly CATS MAGAZINE) has published articles about Hartz products harming cats, expecially flea soap that is used in bathing them. I believe Wal Mart and perhaps others, were forced to take the shampoo off the shelves for a time, but I think it is back in the store. I will not use anything made by that company for my cats. I only use products recommended by my vet. You may want to get in touch with the magazine to see if they will give you info. I know the articles that I read told about cats dying after they had been bathed.

only once have i used hartz, and only once will i ever use it.oliver was 5 years old and i used it with him.he had respretoriy infection becouse of it!sadly, he died on my 15th birthday last october. 🙁
i miss him. die hartz, die!

FIRST OF ALL- MERRY CHRISTMAS TO ALL, AND IF YOUR GETTING A PET FOR CHRISTMAS OR GIVING ONE PLEASE BE CAREFUL OF THE PRODUCTS YOU USE AND IF YOUR GIVING A PET AS A GIFT TELL THAT PERSON NOT TO USE ALL THESE HARMFULL PRODUCTS WE ALL ARE HOPING TO GET PULLED OF THE SHELVES. IMO AND I ARE TRYING TO SPREAD THE WORD ABOUT THE KILLER PRODUCTS ON THE SHELVES AT OUR FAVORITE STORES, I TELL ANY ONE WITH IN SIGHT ABOUT ALL THE DANGERS AND LOST LIVES CAUSED BY HARTZ, SOME LISTEN- SOME THINK IM NUTS, BUT IF MY NUTS IDEA SAVES ONE LIFE WHOS CARES WHAT ANY ONE THINKS. WINTER IS HERE AND A BAD TIME FOR IMO, HIS JOINTS STIFF UP AND HE CANT GET AROUND MUCH, HE WILL ALSO GO INTO HIS NON-STOP COLDS AND CHEST INFECTIONS,
ID LIKE FOR HARTZ TO SPEND A WEEK AT OUR HOUSE AND SEE WHAT THIER PRODUCT HAS DONE AND NOT ONLY OUR IMOS LIFE BUT HOW MINE AND MY HUSBANDS LIFES HAVE CHANGED, OR I SHOULD SAY STOPPED, WE CANT GO ON VACATION WE CANT EVEN STAY GONE FROM HOME FOR TO LONG,SOME ONE HAS TO LOOK AFTER IMO 24-7 , WE TAKE CARE OF HIS EVERY NEED, ID LOVE FOR THE PERSON WHO MADE THE FLEA PRODUCT TO GO THRU WHAT IMO DOES EVERY DAY, ID LIKE FOR THAT PERSONS ARMS AND LEGS TO BE BOUND SO THEY CANT SCRATCH WHEN THEY HAVE A ITCH,FALL OVER WHEN TRYING TO USE THE BATHROOM, NOT BE ABLE TO RUN,JUMP,CLIMB STAIRS, I WANT THEM TO JUST LAY AROUND LIKE IMO WAITING FOR SOME ONE TO COME ALONG AND HELP WITH ANY THING,EVERYTHING,AND MOST OF ALL TO SUFFER ALL THE PAIN HE HAS EVERYDAY. THAT WOULD BE THE GREATEST CHRISTMAS GIFT I COULD EVER GET………………………..
FROM IMO AND US- HAVE A SAFE AND MERRY CHRISTMAS, AND DONT SUPPORT HARTZ.
(refer to nov- stories to read about imo)

On Saturday afternoon, around 2:00 PM, I put Hartz Plus on my 9 month old Siamese/Manx kitty – Marie. She was hand-raised from birth, and was my family’s most precious baby. She had gone through a lot in the four hours after the Hartz application. After an hour after applying Hartz Plus, she started to twitch — her eyes, mouth, whiskers — were all twitching. I called her to come to me, and she walked sideways, stumbling to reach me. I immediately grabbed the Hartz package and read the back, as I did twice before purchasing it. It noted that she was exhibiting the one of the signs listed as a possible adverse reaction — and I immediately bathed the product off her body. The twitching never stopped. Within the next hour, Marie had her first seizure — her eyes dilated and her body became stiff…all I could do was hold her tight and talk her through the seizure. The twitching continued until the next seizure (approximately 30 minutes after the first one) — which jolted her body with such force that she nearly bit her tongue off. Again, all I could do was hold her tight and talk to her. After another 30 minutes (or so), she had her third and final seizure. It didn’t kill her right away, she laid unconscious — in a coma-like state until her breathing ceased. By 6:00 PM, Marie was dead. My family and I were hysterically upset. It’s been so heartbreaking for my kids to have their friend ripped from them in such a violent way. The look on Marie’s face as she laid in my arms, scared — in pain. Oh, how I wish I had only read this site before, had I only researched this product prior, had I not applied your product to my baby. But, you don’t expect a product with a picture of a “happy pet” on the front of it, a product sitting on your local Walmart shelf, a product that mentions no wording on the back of the packaging that “seizures” or “death” is an adverse reaction. And no Hartz, “full body tremors” are not “seizures” — as seizures implicate brain death — which I would not classify as an “adverse reaction,” but more of a “death sentence.” Oh yes, Hartz, I blame you fully for the death of my pet — no product refund will ever bring back my baby, my Marie.

Late Friday night 12-03-04 I applied Hartz Advance care flea and tick drops to my Bengal stud, my boxer female and my daughter’s DSH.
Within just a few hours the DSH was dead and my other 2 animals were extremely sick with seizures and tremors. My vet was afraid that the boxer would be left blind from the seizures but luckily as of today, both the boxer and the Bengal are recovering from this horrible ordeal. My daughter lost her cat and almost lost the dog her father gave her shortly before he passed away. And Hartzs’ response was to read the “President’s” statement about this product!!!!!!